radio tubes
Edward Meyers
radios and TVs by changing vacuum tubes. He left his
collection, with a tube tester, to me. It's a good size
box of them sitting in my garage. What does one do with
such a collection? If it's important, I could count and
code them?
Grover Gardner
(Edward Meyers) wrote:
If the tube tester is in good condition it could fetch a fair amount of
money. Check the brand and model number and publish it here. Someone
could tell you how much it's worth. These are hard to find and useful to
collectors.
I would definitely go through the tubes and catalogue them by model, brand
name and country of manufacture, if you can determine that. If you want
to sell them or trade them, you might publish a list here and also in
rec.antique.radio. They might just be old stock tubes that don't have
much interest for collectors, or there may be some yummy foreign or rare
tubes. Names to watch for are Mullard, Telefunken and Amperex. Triode
power tubes (they're big and shaped more like light bulbs) are quite
valuable these days. It's worth the trouble, if only as a service to
other collectors!
--
Grover
Dr Distortion
: If the tube tester is in good condition it could fetch a fair amount of
: money. Check the brand and model number and publish it here. Someone
: could tell you how much it's worth. These are hard to find and useful to
: collectors.
Ever gone to a hamfest? Tube testers are, on the whole, pretty cheap and
easy to find. There are a couple of "desirable" models like the
"cardomatic", but finding a good gm tester like a TV-7 is usually not a
tall order.
: much interest for collectors, or there may be some yummy foreign or rare
: tubes. Names to watch for are Mullard, Telefunken and Amperex.
What's the big deal with Amperex tubes, anyway? I've got a bunch of
Amperex Bugle Boy 12AX7s, and I dangled them in front of a rich collector
guy and he just about drooled all over himself. He tried to lowball me,
though, so I didn't sell. What makes them so special? (Saying "they sound
good" is not an adequate answer :)
Grover Gardner
Well, in my experience the Bugle Boys have a very distinctive sound--an
extra-juicy midrange and throwing a very deep soundstage. In my equipment
they sound a lot tighter and quicker than, say, Telefunkens. Still, I
prefer the latter because they have a softer attack, a more life-sized
soundtage, throw more sound in front of the speakers and just sound looser
and more "live" than the Bugle Boys.
--
Grover
Dr Distortion
: Well, in my experience the Bugle Boys have a very distinctive sound--an
: extra-juicy midrange and throwing a very deep soundstage.
I don't see anything about juicy midrange or soundstages on my datasheets.
When I try the Amperexes in my amps, they work fine but I don't see God
or anything like that. I guess I just don't have as active an imagination
as some...
Mark Garvin
>Grover Gardner (gro...@clark.net) wrote:
Usually we're in agreement on these things, Doctor, but here we diverge.
I can hear differences in various preamp tubes, and I bet you can too
under the right circumstances. I test em in a Champ so there's only
the preamp tube and the power tube in the picture. With fewer variables,
sonic differences do turn up.
I have a bunch of Amperexes stashed cause I like 'em. Hard to define
the differences, but I'd say that the Telefunkens are perhaps a bit
more 'clinical' -- probably means more accurate <g>.
I'd expect even wider differences is sound than what I've heard: the
internal construction of those things is completely different sometimes.
I have old TungSol 12ax7's with plates almost twice the size of the
newer Chinese ones. The Tungsols are reputed to be less linear, by
the way.
Ever since one of my friends bet that I'd be able to hear the difference
between two optical (digital!) cables, I'm very careful about judging
sound by what *should* be happening (I lost...the difference was very
obvious...no idea why).
I'm always interested to hear opinions on the sound of various brands
of tubes. Sometimes tough to tell who actually made them, since
manufacturers traded them sometimes.
Regards,
Mark
Computer Digest Limited
: Grover Gardner (gro...@clark.net) wrote:
: : Well, in my experience the Bugle Boys have a very distinctive sound--an
: : extra-juicy midrange and throwing a very deep soundstage.
: I don't see anything about juicy midrange or soundstages on my datasheets.
Does anyone have a book/pamphlet/FAQ about the minutiae of
various tube makers revisions over the years ?
Info on who made tubes for who, engineering changes and the
like would clear a lot of smoke from the air when talking
about perceived differences between tubes.
It might also aggravate supply/demand for some tubes, but I
think that djinn is out of the bottle already.
John S. Shinal
comd...@vnet.net